


down in the forest (with the devil in me)

by Ford_Ye_Fiji



Category: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: Angst, Book 3: The Hollow Boy, F/M, George and Holly are there but they don’t say much, Hurt/Comfort, Lockwood is a mess and I love him, Lucy: I’d die for u, No explicit romance here, POV First Person, but u know we know they in love, lockwood: not if I die for u first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28570842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ford_Ye_Fiji/pseuds/Ford_Ye_Fiji
Summary: In which, Lucy tries her best, Lockwood can’t catch a break, and Holly saves the day (again).-When I was reading the Hollow Boy, I thought the case of the bloody footprints would end in a completely different way.
Relationships: Lucy Carlyle/Anthony Lockwood
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	down in the forest (with the devil in me)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work in the Lockwood and Co fandom!! So I’m a little nervous XD
> 
> This was also written before I read the empty grave and about La Belle Dame Sans Merci so ajsjs I didn’t know it was actually possible for ghosts to influence people

Alright, so I was pushing too much. But to be fair, none of us had put together the dots, a fact which would all come back to bite us quite badly. 

See, the entirety of the information we held was this: Robert Cooke had chased poor Little Tom to the top of the stairs and then pushed him off. Cooke had reportedly been insane and was committed to a psychiatric hospital where he’d killed himself soon afterwards. More recently, the night-watch children had followed Cooke’s and Tom’s bloody footprints up the stairwell, where one poor boy had been shoved off the stairs and the other child had reportedly lost her mind and also been committed. 

It seemed obvious in hindsight that there was a certain pattern of events- that this was some sort of grave warning and that it was a much more complicated haunting then we’d thought. It wasn’t obvious at the time, however, especially with tensions running so high. My disagreement with Lockwood had reached a sort of head, he was determined to believe that all hauntings were cut and dry, I was determined to believe that if I just Listened, I could help them. I was also mad about Holly and he was upset that I had insulted her so harshly. 

We were both half wrong and both half right, if you think about it afterwards- but this is now, not afterwards. 

Poor little Tom, or, who we _thought_ was Little Tom, stood before me on the landing, neglected, forgotten, and desperate for a connection. Like me almost. And I reached out, I Listened, and Tom whispered, “ _I’m all alone…_ ”

This was where I made my greatest mistake. Listening is my greatest strength. It’s also my greatest weakness. The thing is, listening is a two way street. The ghosts open themselves to me and I… Well, I open up to them. I was vulnerable as Little Tom spoke, small and meek, “ _Because of them._ ” 

And that’s when it all turned round. His voice was soft and mesmerizing. Yes, I thought. Yes, it’s all because of them. Little Tom spoke again, faint and whispery, “ _They did this to us. They should suffer._ ” 

My brows furrowed… suffer? But I didn’t- “ _They left us all alone._ ” My brow smoothed. They had, hadn’t they? Lockwood had abandoned me, hadn’t he? His secrets and lies always separating the rest of us from him. Little Tom flared at that, “ _It's all his fault._ ” 

There was a loud thump from the bottom floor, George shouting, but, strangely enough, I couldn’t seem to hear it, so bent was I upon Little Tom’s words, a small sad child of silver light, dripping with gleaming promise. 

Yes, yes I could see that now. He was down below with _Holly_ , of all people. “ _They abandoned us._ ” Lockwood had, hadn’t he? I’d always been dependent on him and now he’d left me. “ _They take and never give…_ ” He had never given me anything in return. I’d had to pay for every piece of information I found.

He didn’t trust me. 

He’d _never_ trust me. 

Lockwood called my name, and I heard footsteps. Little Tom spoke, soft and sad, “ _There’s only one way to make them finally listen._ ” 

_Oh yes,_ I thought, even as some distant part of my mind rebelled, unable to fight, ghostlocked somewhere far away. I made a decision that was not my own… _Yes, there’s only one way to fix this._

Lockwood reached the top of the stairs, silver sword gleaming, “Luce! Did you hear? We must-“ he stilled, seeing me nearly face to face with the ghost of Little Tom. “Lucy, get away from him. That’s not Little Tom- that’s _Robert Cooke_ \- that’s the murderer-“ 

I stood, lips moving even though afterwards I would never quite be able to remember exactly what I’d said, “I know.” 

I turned, and I could feel the pulse in the back of my mind. Lockwood’s eyes flicked from me to the ghost, always the ghost, “Lucy, what happened?” 

“I Listened. It’s quite alright, don’t you see? We can _help_ them.” 

He stepped forward cautiously, holding out a hand, rapier still drawn, “Luce, listen to me very carefully. You’ve been influenced. You’ve got to trust me.” I started at his movement and whatever he saw the ghost do or prepare to do behind me made him lunge, sword point flaring. 

I threw myself forward with a shriek, the rapier sliced through open air, the ghost of Robert Cooke screamed, and in the commotion of gleaming metal and cold brittle air, I pushed Lockwood over the banister. 

* * *

It was a very stupid thing to do. 

But, fortunately, I wasn’t completely stupid. Lockwood’s rapier sliced apart the ghost of Robert Cooke just before I forced him over the edge of the stairs. By all rights, the ghost should’ve still fulfilled its nightly routine- influencing it’s hapless victims and egging them to push another off the landing to the hard floor below. 

Lockwood’s attack however proved just enough to change the tide. He fell backwards, the ghost’s last dregs of its power clinging to my mind. They were easy to tear through this time and I followed him over, grabbing at his wrists with a desperate panic. 

Lockwood swung over open air and my arms trembled with the weight of him. There was the distant discordant clatter of his rapier on the ground far below. 

“ _Lockwood!_ ” 

He glanced up, lips pulling into a shining grin, thick with relief and something more, “Lucy! You’re back!” 

I strained, trying to pull him up and failing. I settled, panting, the sight of the ground far below making me sweat, words strained and voice choked, “You have no right to be looking so happy.” 

“Thought we’d lost you there, Luce.” 

He slipped, fingers slick with sweat and I yelped, nearly following him over the edge, I could feel myself losing my grip, “Lockwood-“ 

His reassuring grin didn’t waver, even as he dangled over the edge, the ground spiraling dizzily below us and making my stomach do somersaults in protest, "S’alright, Luce, it’s not your fault.”

I knew then, in that moment, that if he fell, I would be going over the edge after him. Even if it killed me, I’d try- to the bitter end. My fingernails dug into his arms, voice thick and firm, a wild determination making my brows furrow and my lips twisted- my heart swelling with ~~an angry love~~ something I didn’t recognize, “You’re _not_ going to get away from me that easily.” 

I slipped, refusing to let go. I was too far over the edge, I could see in his eyes the moment he realized I wasn’t going to leave him, “Lucy, you’ve got to let go-!” 

My grip only tightened, “Absolutely not!” 

His grin wavered and twisted into something small and afraid. (Not just afraid, but _terrified_. As if his worst fear was staring him down.) 

I had no time to contemplate that before hands wrapped around my waist, there was a shout and then Holly’s voice, more reassuring than it had any right to be, “Hold on, we’ve got you! Don’t drop him!”

I was too tired to snap back at her. Especially when she had just saved our lives. She shouted back behind her, “George! Deal with the Source quickly! I can’t pull both of them up by myself!” 

Lockwood glanced down and then back up, the enigmatic grin back in place as if it had never vanished at all, “This is why you need to be more careful about Listening, Lucy."

“I could still drop you.” 

His eyes softened, something dark in his eyes, “You wouldn’t.” 

The edge of the landing jabbed into my stomach, Holly’s manicured nails dug into my skin as she strained to keep us both from falling. Lockwood’s thin fingers wrapped around my wrists as I panted, “You know me too well.” 

Then George was there and they pulled, and slowly, inch by inch, we were dragged back into safety. Lockwood pushed himself to his feet and then thought better of it, half-collapsing, half-sitting beside me to lean against the banister, hair mussed and falling into his eyes. George and Lucy panted, exhausted, on the stairs just below. 

I closed my eyes and slumped against his shoulder, taking comfort in the fact that he was real beside me. His fingers twisted with some aborted movement and then settled over my own hand, trembling. I interlaced our fingers, uncaring of how it might look to the others. I was only concerned in feeling him real beside me. 

In the morning, with the dawn, would come questions and arguments, but for now… 

For now, Lockwood and I leaned against each other and breathed. 

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is here: https://ford-ye-fiji.tumblr.com/


End file.
